Mayawati achieved this breakthrough by gathering additional votes across all non-dalit castes — she secured the support of the brahmins and also of lower and peasant OBCs and Muslims. Like Lalu Prasad Yadav in his first brilliant flash across Bihar’s political firmament, Mayawati has appealed to poor voters across the caste divide.
How can this not shift the paradigm of politics in UP, and of its governance too? Now that Mayawati has redefined her constituency from “bahujan samaj” to “sarvajan samaj”, can UP remain a fragmented place?
There is no room for pessimism in this rare moment. But we would be failing it if we did not acknowledge that like all such moments, it carries within itself possible closures which must be recognised if they are to be guarded against. After all, Lalu Yadav betrayed his own moment of history for 15 long years.
The composition of the caste coalition, the relative space it offers to its various constituents alongside the dalits, will determine the political and policy latitude that Chief Minister Mayawati will have in the next five years. Though she has more room than other political actors to court a “plus” constituency, yet it will define the constraints upon her every time she reaches beyond the concerns of her core base. Of course, Mayawati can transform her strategic patchwork into a true rainbow of castes and communities in the coming years. If she does that, she would be changing the course of politics in UP — and in India — in lasting ways.
Chief Minister Mayawati must also resist and overcome the habits and syndromes...
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Vandita Mishra